From the Readers

Milton Goldberg

Victor Garcia

Jud Jerome

RE: MYFAVORITEPROFESSOR

Who was the best teacher? It had to be Milton Goldberg. He was the antithesis of the supportive, open-minded, liberal Antioch professor of the late ’60s. Back then I was the sort of stubborn, argumentative
student that most professors ran from and Milton seemed to relish it. I can still hear him shouting, “Abzurd! Abzurd!” at me in class. We spent a year abroad in London, attending a class twice a week—“Shakespeare and the English Novel.” When I got the call right before the last meeting that he’d unexpectedly passed away, I remember thinking, “Is this another cheap trick?” Unfortunately it was not. Thanks, Milton, for a small chunk of the last year of your life.—Scott McMillin ’71, Santa Fe, NM

RE: MYFAVORITEPROFESSOR

A name that must be on the list of favorite instructors at Antioch is Jud Jerome.
Jud was a published poet and a passionate teacher of literature when I was at Antioch in the late ’50s and early ’60s. His course on Shakespeare was the most memorable of all those I took at the College. Jud’s appreciation of the inexhaustible depth and extraordinary range of those plays and their poetry floods back as I think of him, and it carries me along whenever I get to see a performance. He was teaching us how to read at a new level and channeling his love for the English language. Peerless subject and great teacher.—Robert Kolodny ’62, New York, NY

RE: MYFAVORITEPROFESSOR

When I saw the words “My Favorite Professor” on the cover of the Fall 2013 issue of The Antiochian, I hurried to open it and search for my favorite professor, and was disappointed to find that he was not there. Victor Garcia was much more than just my favorite professor and he taught me much more than just Spanish. He was also a buddy and a good, dear friend. He opened my eyes to many things and taught me incalculable amounts about politics, history, culture, commitment, and loyalty—and he did so with a great sense of humor that rarely, if ever, waned. I carry his lessons to this day and I will always be grateful for them.—Lawrence Reichard ’81, Orland, ME

RE: ANTIOCHMEMORIES

“I just feel happy all over,” I wrote to my parents on a penny postcard after my first three days at Antioch in 1940. Soon after, I was waiting at a table in the Tea Room under the watchful eye of Kenny Hamilton and started my first co-op job. Then my draft number came up and I spent four years in the army. On return, I remember
Basil Pillard quoting Hayakawa’s “The
Word is Not the Thing,” Chatterjee’s “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there,” and Geiger’s remark about Unitarians as “those religious atheists.”

I remain nostalgic about my time at Antioch and wish for newcomers at the new Antioch to have an experience as fulfilling
and satisfying as I did at the old Antioch.—Gerry Harwood ’49, San Rafael, CA

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